Zahran Alloush

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Zahran Alloush
File:Zahran Alloush, Syria, 2015.jpg
Zahran Alloush attending a military parade in eastern Ghouta, 29 April 2015.
Born 1971
Douma, Syria
Died 25 December 2015(2015-12-25)
Utaya, Rif Dimashq, Syria
Cause of death Syrian Air Force strike[1]
Nationality Syrian
Known for Emir of Jaysh al-Islam
Military career
Allegiance Islamic Front
(November 2013-December 2015)
Service/branch Jaysh al-Islam
(2011-December 2015)
Years of service 2011–2015
Rank
Battles/wars Syrian Civil War †

Zahran Alloush (Arabic: زهران علوش‎‎ Zahrān ʿAlūš; 1971 – 25 December 2015) was a Syrian Islamist leader active during the Syrian Civil War. He was the commander of Jaysh al-Islam, a major component of the Islamic Front, of which he was the military chief, and was described as one of the most powerful persons in rebel-held Syria. Alloush called for cleansing Damascus of all Alawites and Shiites,[3] later telling Western journalists that these and similar statements had been caused by the pressure and "psychological stress" he was under from living through the Syrian Government's siege of Ghouta.[4] He was killed on 25 December 2015 and Essam al-Buwaydhani was named as his successor.[5][6][7][8]

Early life

Zahran Alloush (born 1971, Douma, Rif Dimashq) was married to three women. His father is Abdullah Alloush a scholar and the previous director of Al Assad center for Quoran studies in Damascus.[9] He joined the faculty of law at Damascus University and studied for a master's degree, and completed a Master’s Degree in Shariah law at the Islamic University of Madinah.[4] The Syrian Intelligence Palestine Branch arrested him in 2009 on charges of weapons possession. He was released from Sednaya Prison in 2011 as part of a general amnesty three months into the Syrian Uprising.[10]

Syrian Civil War

Following his release, he established a rebel group called the Battalion of Islam to fight the Assad Government. The group expanded and renamed itself the Brigade of Islam, and in 2013 it merged with other rebel factions to form the Army of Islam, still under Alloush's leadership. This became the most powerful rebel group operating in the Damascus area.[11]

A number of Syrian opposition figures have accused Alloush of being responsible for the kidnapping of Syrian activist Razan Zeitouneh and her companions in Douma on 9 December 2013. Alloush denied the allegations.[12][13]

In April 2015, Zahran Alloush suddenly appeared in the Turkish city of Istanbul. A spokesperson from the Army of Islam declared that Alloush would meet rebel groups leaders in Istanbul in order to discuss how to lift the siege in Ghouta. He has been criticized by the public. In the media many wondered how he could travel to Turkey and come back when the city is under siege.[14]

Alloush has denounced democracy and called for an Islamic state to succeed Assad, however in a May 2015 interview with McClatchy journalists, Alloush used moderate rhetoric, claiming that Syrians should decide what sort of state they wanted to live under and that Alawites were “part of the Syrian people” and only those with blood on their hands should be held accountable. His spokesman went on to claim that the sectarian and Islamist rhetoric Alloush had previously made was only intended for internal consumption and to rally his fighters.[4][15][16]

In July 2015 Alloush accused "international forces" of waging a media war of jihadists such as his own Jaysh al-Islam.[17]

Zahran Alloush denounced the PKK[18] and claimed "This Kurdistan Labor Party embraces Hegel's philosophy as its ideology .... Hegel is a communist."[19][20][21]

Zahran Alloush's official Facebook handle was zhran1970 and his twitter handles are zahranalloush and zahran1970 (suspended).[22][23][24]

Captain Islam Allouche, a cousin of Zahran Alloush, serves as the spokesman of Jaysh al Islam and runs the twitter account islamallousheng,[25] and the Arabic account islamdamas1980.[26] Islam Alloush announced Jaysh al-Islam's support to Turkey's anti PKK offensive.[27]

Death

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. He was reported killed in the village of Utaya to the east of Damascus on 25 December 2015 by a Syrian Air Force airstrike.[28]

Allegations of war crimes

Alloush has been accused of the disappearing of Syrian civil rights activist and human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, who was taken by gunmen, along with her husband and two other colleagues, from her office in the Jaysh al-Islam-controlled area of Douma in December 2013.[29]

On 1 November 2015 it was reported Jaysh al-Islam forces paraded captured Alawite civilians in cages in Eastern Ghouta to ward off Russian airstrikes.[30][31]

It has been confirmed that Jaish Al-Islam participated in the Adra massacre[32] committed by the Islamic Front (of which it is a member).

References

  1. ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/327094-top-syrian-rebel-killed/
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Voice of America: "Syrian Rebels Mourn Loss of Leader, Name Replacement" December 26, 2015
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 1:03:46 on the youtube video
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Islamists kill 15 Alawite and Druze civilians in Syria -activists Reuters. 12 December 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Zahran_Alloush&oldid=722884336"